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I've fixed hundreds of 'em and they're nowt special.... (not bad neither though, and they did make a few iconic models). Usual case of the biggest company with the most instantly recognisable brand name gets all the kudos....
Same as if you ask joe public non biker to name a really good motorbike they'll likely say Harley Davidson.... LOL!

Completely not the case Jez, obviously you didn't watch the documentary, Jim Marshall started out his amp business from his music shop and copied an American amp (it's name escapes me) but because he couldn't get hold of the same parts, he used what was available, the distortion was an accident, but luckily was what the guitarists were looking for. The reason for the success was down to the fact that a lot of up and coming bands of the time hung out in his shop and bought their instruments from him, he just happened to make the right product and importantly, listened to his customers developing his products to suit their needs.

Maybe next time watch the program before making a comment....

​
As the late Colonel Sanders once said "I'm too drunk to taste this chicken!!"

Completely not the case Jez, obviously you didn't watch the documentary, Jim Marshall started out his amp business from his music shop and copied an American amp (it's name escapes me) but because he couldn't get hold of the same parts, he used what was available, the distortion was an accident, but luckily was what the guitarists were looking for. The reason for the success was down to the fact that a lot of up and coming bands of the time hung out in his shop and bought their instruments from him, he just happened to make the right product and importantly, listened to his customers developing his products to suit their needs.

Maybe next time watch the program before making a comment....

Not only have I watched it I was well aware of the background anyway and I'm an official Marshall service agent. He was lucky in that several people he knew in bands and as customers became really famous just as he was trying to expand from a garage builder to something bigger... A good international distributor saw the potential, took them on and handled the advertising etc... the rests history. Today they are probably the pre-eminent brand in guitar amplifiers and that combined with their history gives them instant brand recognition and kudos. Did they have superb designs, amazing build quality and top of the range components? No. Did they work bloody hard and also have some VERY lucky breaks? Yes.
The Who famously moved on to using better designed and built plus more powerful (and yes more expensive IIRC) Hi-Watt amplifiers.

Completely not the case Jez, obviously you didn't watch the documentary, Jim Marshall started out his amp business from his music shop and copied an American amp (it's name escapes me) but because he couldn't get hold of the same parts, he used what was available, the distortion was an accident, but luckily was what the guitarists were looking for. The reason for the success was down to the fact that a lot of up and coming bands of the time hung out in his shop and bought their instruments from him, he just happened to make the right product and importantly, listened to his customers developing his products to suit their needs.

Maybe next time watch the program before making a comment....

It was a Fender amp he copied , (I forget the exact model name )one that was mainly for bass quitars according to the documentary - very good viewing ,and the prog before it where James may rebuilt the Dansette Bermuda record player

It was a Fender amp he copied , (I forget the exact model name )one that was mainly for bass quitars according to the documentary - very good viewing ,and the prog before it where James may rebuilt the Dansette Bermuda record player

It was the Fender Bassman that was copied.
When it was opened up it was found to be a well known and standard circuit.
Marshall, operating in post war Britain, sourced the UK equivalent components from Army Surplus stores, and that's the reason why the amps sounded different.
The transformers were wound differently, and the valves were UK equivalents to the US types.

Chris

Once we've made sense of our world, we wanna go fuck up everybody else's because his or her truth doesn't match mine. But this is the problem. Truth is individual calculation. Which means because we all have different perspectives, there isn't one singular truth, is there?

I have an early 50W Marshall and there's something about old Marshalls that seems to have escaped the entire rest of the world - they sound great at low volumes!!
Yes, they don't have the classic rock guitar sound when quiet, but they make a superb jazz amp with a lovely "springy" feel. Shhh... don't tell anyone

I have an early 50W Marshall and there's something about old Marshalls that seems to have escaped the entire rest of the world - they sound great at low volumes!!
Yes, they don't have the classic rock guitar sound when quiet, but they make a superb jazz amp with a lovely "springy" feel. Shhh... don't tell anyone

They are really nice sounding if you're not caning them, with plenty of overhead.
But as you say, that's not what people buy them for.

Chris

Once we've made sense of our world, we wanna go fuck up everybody else's because his or her truth doesn't match mine. But this is the problem. Truth is individual calculation. Which means because we all have different perspectives, there isn't one singular truth, is there?

Bro has one that he uses for his keyboard strangely. Sounds great as well. Had been a band one for guitar or bass. Seems to work well for keys too.

Jon Lord (Deep Purple) used to feed his Hammond B3 through Marshall heads and cabinets.

Chris

Once we've made sense of our world, we wanna go fuck up everybody else's because his or her truth doesn't match mine. But this is the problem. Truth is individual calculation. Which means because we all have different perspectives, there isn't one singular truth, is there?